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Title: Deformation and Collectivity in Doubly Magic Pb208
Lead-208 is the heaviest known doubly magic nucleus and its structure is therefore of special interest. Despite this magicity, which acts to provide a strong restorative force toward sphericity, it is known to exhibit both strong octupole correlations and some of the strongest quadrupole collectivity observed in doubly magic systems. In this Letter, we employ state-of-the-art experimental equipment to conclusively demonstrate, through four Coulomb-excitation measurements, the presence of a large, negative, spectroscopic quadrupole moment for both the vibrational octupole 3 1 and quadrupole 2 1 + state, indicative of a preference for prolate deformation of the states. The observed quadrupole moment is discussed in the context of the expected splitting of the 3 3 two-phonon states, due to the coupling of the quadrupole and octupole motion. These results are compared with theoretical values from three different methods, which are unable to reproduce both the sign and magnitude of this deformation. Thus, in spite of its well-studied nature, Pb 208 remains a puzzle for our understanding of nuclear structure. Published by the American Physical Society2025  more » « less
Award ID(s):
2310059 1913028 2110365
PAR ID:
10572277
Author(s) / Creator(s):
; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; more » ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; ; « less
Publisher / Repository:
APS
Date Published:
Journal Name:
Physical Review Letters
Volume:
134
Issue:
6
ISSN:
0031-9007
Format(s):
Medium: X
Sponsoring Org:
National Science Foundation
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